1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to hopper cars and in particular to a hopper car gate configured for use with an automatic hopper car gate opening and closing system.
2. Description of Related Art
Hopper cars are commonly used to transport bulk materials. Hopper cars include one or more hoppers which hold bulk materials or other cargo for shipment. Each hopper has a discharge opening at its bottom in order to discharge the cargo upon arrival at its intended destination. A gate is joined to each opening to control the discharge of cargo from the hopper. Typically, the gate will have a frame defining an opening and a door moveable between a closed position which blocks the opening and an open position which allows cargo to exit through the opening. An opening mechanism allows a user to move the door between its closed and open positions.
Most conventional hopper car gates are opened and closed by an operator with the assistance of a pneumatic tool configured for use with the opening mechanism of the gate. When a hopper car enters a facility for unloading, the operator must use the tool to open each of the gates on the hopper car. As the car exits the facility, the operator must again use the tool to close each of the gates. When many hopper cars are joined together, the time spent opening and closing all of the gates can be significant. Further, with each gate, the operator must determine how the tool needs to be set in order to either open or close the gate. If the operator incorrectly sets the tool, the gate may be damaged when the operator attempts to open or close the gate. For example, if the operator sets the tool to close a gate when the gate is already closed, the tool may force the door of the gate into a position in which it was not designed to go, which may cause damage to the gate that is expensive to fix.